Mateo Kovacic: The new Croatian sensation

Is he the new Balkan sensation?

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Some call him the Croatian ‘Messi’, others Wayne Rooney while many have suggested that Croatia have not seen a better talent since the days of Robert Prosinecki, yet he is so young but so talented. Yes, we are talking about a little kid of Bosnian-Croat origin who is the talking point of all Croatia and ofcourse Europe at the moment. He is Mateo Kovacic, the Dinamo Zagreb starlet who has attracted the attention of the likes of Barcelona, Arsenal and Tottenham with his prodigious talent at the tender age of seventeen.

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For Part I of the series, click here.For Part II of the series, click here.For Part III of the series, click here.For Part IV of the series, click here.

Born in Linz, Austria to Bosnian-Croat parents after they escaped the bitter war in the former Yugoslavia in 1991, young Mateo joined the local LASK Linz academy in 2000 and stayed there until 2007 when despite interests from big European clubs like VFB Stuttgart, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Ajax Amsterdam and Juventus, the Kovacic family decided to settle in Zagreb in that same year when the famed Dinamo Zagreb academy came calling. Mateo Kovacic proved to be an instant hit with his allround talent and despite being eligible to play for both Austria and Bosnia-Herzegovina, he was selected by the Croatian U-15 side in May 2008 against Slovakia and now he is a regular at the U-17 national side and his coach Martin Novoselac had a lot to say about young Kovacic. The U-17 manager was quoted as saying, “I haven’t seen a youngster with so much talent since the days of Robert Prosinecki”.

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Being compared with the likes of Messi and Rooney is not a matter of pride for the Croatian media and this could backfire on the youngster’s career progression yet Kovacic showed immense maturity at such a young age when he brushed off the comparisons by saying, “I’m always a little embarrassed when people compare me with Messi. I do not even have ten percent of his talents.”

Just over a year into his Dinamo career, Mateo broke his leg and remained out of all football action for almost the full season and did not return until May last year.

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Despite this injury his progress was not halted and the boy from Linz was asked to train with the senior Dinamo Zagreb squad by manager Vahid Halilhodzic.

In November 2010, he was handed his first-team debut playing against Hrvatski Dragovoljac in a 6-0 win, and he also marked his debut appearance with a goal. That introduction against Dragovoljac meant that Kovacic became the youngest goalscorer and debutant in Croatian league history.

Naturally an attacking midfielder but Kovacic has the allround ability to operate deep in the central midfield, wings and also right upfront as an all out forward and this versatility of the player attracted the presence of Arsenal’s chief scout Steve Rowley at Dinamo Zagreb’s U-17 league matches against NK Zagreb and Cibalia. Surely Arsene Wenger has his experienced eyes on a Croatian star in the making. With Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham are reported to have launched an audacious eight million pound bid on Mateo Kovacic to lure the player away from the clutches of Arsenal and Barcelona, it remains to be seen whether Dinamo let go off their prized asset at such a young stage of the player’s development.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUoLPylUOoY&feature=player_embedded

Edited by Staff Editor
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